Why Google makes the perfect ISP

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Google has been talking about its prototype fiber network for over two years now. After a lengthy selection process, Kansas City in both Missouri and Kansas were selected, and the specifics have finally been announced. As expected, the service sounds like an amazing deal on the face of it. Though, you’ll probably hear people grumbling that Google has too much data on us already, so should it really be your internet service provider too?

When you look at what Mountain View is promising to deliver with Google Fiber, and the way the company is run, Google might be the ideal choice to be your ISP. Here’s why.

Wired net neutrality and caps

Many net neutrality proponents cried foul a few years ago when Google supported Verizon’s vision for non-neutral mobile networks. Part of that proposal — the part that is often overlooked — is that Google strongly supported net neutrality over conventional wireline broadband.

This is Google’s own wired network, so it’s not going to be running any of those shenanigans you’re becoming familiar with from the old ISPs. Comcast, Time Warner, and the rest are keen to build premium services, but Google has repeatedly come out against favoritism toward a single service or protocol.

Comcast has been giving preferential treatment to its own streaming video service by not counting the bandwidth against caps. Google is actually tying its fiber service in with Netflix and there are no caps at all. It’s worth noting that Google could have just given its own YouTube and fiber TV products top billing, and left everyone to access Netflix in the myriad of ways already available. Instead, Netflix is part of the sales pitch.

Several ISPs have also been accused of throttling the BitTorrent protocol because they claim it negatively impacts the network. Google’s fiber network won’t care what protocol you’re using. There is more than enough bandwidth capacity in those fiber lines to keep up with anything you throw at it.

More Google services

In this initial rollout of Google’s fiber internet, there are some hints of how established services will be integrated. For example, all paying users of Google’s fiber will get free access to 1TB of cloud storage through Google Drive. Being plugged right into Google’s backbone will probably make the experience of using Drive particularly phenomenal, as well.

Android will also be a big part of Google’s ISP angle. The TV + gigabit internet package will come with a free Nexus 7 Android tablet. The device will just be a remote control at first, but I would bet that network management and account tools are going to come to Android. Google Play video might also make an appearance as yet another video source. Imagine that the free Nexus 7 could be used to beam video to your fancy fiber TV box. Maybe the Nexus Q was just a beta test for this system.

Most carriers are happy to charge obscene amounts of money for VoIP services, and Google seems to have a ready-made alternative waiting in the wings. Google Voice doesn’t work entirely through VoIP on mobile devices, but the tie-in with calls placed from Gmail on your computer are all IP voice. Google has the backend to handle this, so perhaps a Google Voice home phone service will come to Google Fiber, if it’s a success.

Amazing value and competition

Odds are that your local ISP does not offer 1Gbps symmetrical internet access. If it does, the cost is probably nowhere near the low price Google is looking to charge. 1Gbps Google Fiber is going to cost just $70 per month. That is 60-70 times faster than my similarly priced Comcast connection.

Because most of the high-speed internet access in the US market is based on the copper laid down by cable operators, there is minimal competition. Unlike the slower DSL lines, cable operators are not required to give other companies access to the cable going into your home. The result of this is that prices are higher. Google Fiber entering a market is sure to send those prices right back down.

It gets better: For people that don’t need a super-fast connection, Google is offering a 5Mbps connection for free — yes, free. If Google Fiber expands, there’s no guarantee that this will remain the case, but it could totally upset the market for entry-level broadband. Even the “catch” isn’t that much of a catch. Google is planning on charging a one-time $300 fee to run the fiber to each residence, but if you opt for a contract, the fee is waived. Free accounts will have to pay the installation fee, unfortunately.

Google was careful to point out that the technology it is using could go beyond 1Gbps. Future iterations of Google Fiber could deliver even faster speeds for almost no extra cost. Your current ISP would do well to be concerned.

Google keeps itself honest

Let’s cut to the chase here. Google isn’t rolling out fiber in Kansas City to make a boatload of money. The fact of the matter is that, as more people use the internet, the better it is for Google. There are so many opportunities for you to encounter Google’s ads and services, and that’s where the money comes from. By increasing access to fast connections, Google is investing in its traditional business.

For Google’s business to remain strong, it needs us to use the services and feed in more data. However, Google knows full well that if it loses the public’s trust, its business goes down the tubes. It simply cannot afford to do anything untoward as an ISP unless it wants to risk its real source of income: our data.

Just look at all the ways the company is already putting us at ease. You are able to get monthly activity reports on your account, for example. If you have location services turned on in your account, Google will actually email you occasionally to remind you that location can be disabled. There is even a “takeout tool” to export all your user data and completely delete your account. There is an entire division at Google called the Data Liberation Front that exists solely to make sure you can take your data out of the Google machine.

Your ISP always knows the most about your online activities, and sometimes that data isn’t protected as it should be. If a government requests user data, most ISPs just hand it over. Google is often put in the same position, but it actually denies some of those requests. The transparency report makes is clear that Mountain View will only release data when it considers the request valid.

Google as an ISP is a good thing. The network it is building will be free of caps and shady, non-neutral practices. Even though its own services are going to be well-integrated, they won’t be given preferential treatment over offerings from other companies. Look at the way Google is working with Netflix in spite of its YouTube and Fiber TV products. A bit will just be a bit in Google’s tubes.

Google is in a unique position to drive competition and innovation among the complacent cable operators. This whole endeavor is supported by the collective trust most users have in Google, so it has a built-in incentive to behave responsibly as an ISP. That’s why you should want Google as your next ISP.

Google’s doing this as a way to motivate everyone else in the U.S. industry. In the UK, it isn’t nearly as necessary. Unbundled fiber has been available for over ten years in the UK, it’s just a matter of someone stepping up and providing the service.

In the United States, there is no such thing. Google has to do everything itself. Build fiber, connect to the backbone, etc. Google is doing this because no one else will.

Chris Johnson

Your statement about the availability of unbundled network elements in the United States is not correct.

Telco networks offer “unbundled” elements, meaning that, for example, an ISP can rent just a DSL qualified, wired connection to your home over which they can provide Internet access and value-added services like VoIP. The ISP is not required to purchase any other services, dialtone included.

Joel Detrow

“DSL qualified”

Conan wasn’t talking about unbundled WIRE, he was talking about unbundled FIBER. There’s a difference, and while there is some amount of unbundled fiber, it has traditionally only been linked between hubs, not run out to actual homes. It’s the infrastructure of fiber going anywhere near actual homes that Google has to run itself because no one else has.

Doesn’t S. Korea already have these speeds as a basic starting point for most consumers?

Nathan Blackwell

Considering 1gbps is the maximum speed most consumer hardware can run at, I doubt this would be a “starting point”. I think their average speed is closer to 20mbps (0.02gbps). But they do have the highest average.

I bet they will be blocking something. First sign your isp is blocking a** is that, that it block illegal child pornography every isp that block even this sick content ALWAYS block something else that is legit. So just go ahead and ask your isp if they block it, mine said they don’t block even that, so i’m happy with my true unblocked content yay!

adirondacktrail

wow and your first worry is if child porn is blocked? You belong in prison!

sep332

Reading comprehension fail. Every scheme that was supposed to block child porn ends up blocking mostly legit content. Look up Australia’s block list, it’s mostly not targeting child porn. It’s just a political move to let the government block whatever they want.

jonaton

What about jurisdictions that outlaw adults who dress and make-up to look like children?

What about jurisdictions that outlaw drawings of children doing things that are illegal for children?

What about Oscar-winning movies that feature nude children?

Exactly who do you trust to decide what “child porn” means? A company which happens to have a lot of other control over your life?

You truly are ignorant also people who liked your comment, blocking child pornography is the lamest excuse to block anything they want and not telling you what they block. So yeah asking if they block CP is best way to find out if your internet will be censored.I don’t care for CP one bit, it’s just a very good way of finding your ISP intentions.

NetscapePizza

I think his badly worded point was systems like CleanFeed which were implemented for good reasons are eventually always abused to block things Hollywood and the music industry don’t like.

jqpabc123

Yes, a company who earns it’s money in part by collecting huge quantities of personal information seems like the perfect ISP. What could possibly go wrong in this?

adirondacktrail

all collect data on you, forget big brother, they can’t hold a candle to everyone spying on you!

NetscapePizza

No they don’t.

Abhisshek Das

well now Google will know your child porn addiction in more detail be very afraid :P

Get this to new york and I’m sure me and many people I know will get this.

Joe Jones

I would sign up in a heart beat if it was ever offered in my area.

vlackrs

plz come to mexico, this f*cking ISP SUCKS.

vlackrs

ups, i did doble reply. But plz come google ISP

Greg Tari

How do you guys know this info / where do you read about it? I’m extremely interested, in fact I’d give them 3k and sign a contract to roll internet half this speed into my house, 300 is nothing, a contract is nothing.. I don’t care if it’s a 50 year contract. Internet like this for hosting purposes, free to communities use (stuff I mostly do) is extreme.. Please get back to me

i hope this is the evolution of a new standard in high speed service, and allow server hosting, i can see whole new flocks of game servers appearing, my service is fast but doesn’t allow server hosting except for additional high costs. every home could have a private server. sharing pictures, ect with family.

“Unless you have a written agreement with Google Fiber permitting you do so, you should not host any type of server using your Google Fiber connection…”http://support.google.com/fiber/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2659981&topic=2440874&ctx=topic via https://fiber.google.com/legal/terms.html

*ahem* Google is paired up with US Gov’t intelligence agencies and refuses to release which agencies it “shares it’s data with” … Yeah, Google would make a wonderful ISP….please

Greg Tari

Stop crying.. an easy solution is stop stealing stuff 24/7 on the internet, then you won’t have such a fit.

Robert White

It’s people like you that allowed the holocaust to happen… “oh, they’re not targeting me, therefore it’s ok” Question what your government/corporate overlords are doing, OFTEN, as they’re not all out for the greater good. Edit: Please note, I said allowed, not caused.

Greg Tari

Wrong, dumbass. It’s people like you who cause it to happen.

Abhisshek Das

@google-1c61744529c05137e3cee8e389ed1a31:disqus Wrong, dumbass. It’s people like you who cause it to happen.

Joel Detrow

*chews popcorn*

uncouthness

grabs a drink

sep332

It’s not about stealing. If it were, Microsoft wouldn’t have just added a way to tap your Skype chats. How many people steal things via Skype?

uncouthness

skype file transefer was not monitored and allowed for ip-ip data exchange. hense why microsoft thought it prevalent to tap into skype chats. I dont think a lot of people knew exactly how diverse skype is and was in its ability to exchange data or communicate I

and you want to talk about stop whining? these people are lawless and work with the national security agency to collect data on you and your family for demographic statistics. don’t forget the census data was used to round up Japanese-Americans in the midst of WW2.

Joel Detrow

You realize the only reason we know about this is because Google realized they missed some of what they were supposed to delete and TOLD THE PEOPLE about their goof and that they were correcting it?

actually it came out last year, it just wasn’t reported in mainstream news.

Chris Johnson

There isn’t a single information services provider that doesn’t respond to legal requests for information. Google and every other provider is prevented by law from disclosing anything about their relationships and the information they provide.

If you’re going to complain, please complain about the correct party. You’re issues are with your elected representatives, not Google or any other company. Your elected representatives can change the law anytime and I’m sure they’re waiting to hear from you.

colorsdonrun

That is a blatant lie, Facebook kid, and in reality, Google PUBLISHES A YEARLY report showing which Government agencies requested data and for what purpose, and WHY GOOGLE DIDN’T FURNISH that data.
Your Facebook evil empire instead already gave all your personal data to US Government (and Syrian, Iranian, Chinese and other “not so good” governments), without even ask you about it.Zuckeburger got many Iranians, Chinese, Syrian and other freedom fighters blood all over his hands. And everyone already know about his evil plan to destroy and privatize the Internet so he can enslave the world and control all the content we can access.This is a war between Good (Google) and Evil (Facebook), and the Evil is losing. Just look at Facebook money-making-scam stock… Go try to sell your stock for half IPO price now…

Romeo Mihalcea

Soon they will implant microchips in your toilet paper. Google is transparent yes. It all goes down to adwords baby and knowing your habits. If they know your habits they know exactly what to sell you. Google being everywhere is not a good news for me and it shouldn’t be for you either. In a matter of years you won’t be able to make a business online without being either purchased or ruined by google who wants control.

They have the search, they have the browser, the mobile os…you will buy ur graves from Google soon.

Carleigh Machock

Well said, Romeo.

paleh0rse

I’m very curious to learn how they plan to handle homes that already have fiber-to-the-premises (FIOS, UVERSE, etc). Will it be just as simple to switch the physical line over as it was with cable coax, or will they run an entirely new line for no good reason?

sep332

Most residential fiber deployments can’t handle Gbit speeds, so you will probably need to upgrade. It’s the same with Comcast though, when I switched from residential to business at the same speed, they ran a new line.

paleh0rse

Are you sure about that? I always thought that the fiber bundle itself can handle the speeds; however, it’s the network blades at one end, and the ONT’s at the other, that cannot….?

Greg Tari

Lots of fiber all around the world, most of it is trash.. some places only have 10mbps, we have good fiber capable of.. 100gbps? more? these days, I assume that’s what google wants to put down.

sep332

You might be right, but they will probably insist on running a new fiber anyway :(

Jeff Jones

Google doesn’t do anything for no good reason. If they run new fiber it’s because Google Fiber is higher quality fiber than what the rest of the world uses. ;-)

“It’s worth noting that Google
could have just given its own YouTube and fiber TV products top billing,
and left everyone to access Netflix in the myriad of ways already
available”

Wait, so they’re giving preferential position to Netflix? I’m confused.

“Most carriers are happy to
charge obscene amounts of money for VoIP services, and Google seems to
have a ready-made alternative waiting in the wings. Google Voice doesn’t
work entirely through VoIP on mobile devices, but the tie-in with calls
placed from Gmail on your computer are all IP voice. Google has the
backend to handle this, so perhaps a Google Voice home phone service
will come to Google Fiber, if it’s a success.”

I really have no idea what you’re talking about. From what I can tell, Google Voice isn’t a real VOIP product/solution today, so this amounts to hoping that Google will extend its service into a new area, and make that free as well. That’s a nice dream, maybe, but I don’t see anywhere that Google says they’re even considering it.

“For Google’s business to
remain strong, it needs us to use the services and feed in more data.
However, Google knows full well that if it loses the public’s trust, its
business goes down the tubes. It simply cannot afford to do anything
untoward as an ISP unless it wants to risk its real source of income:
our data.”

The trouble with this theory is that Google has a trump card: Gmail. (Actually many: Google Ads, …) In aggregate, Google needs us, but individually, a person really can’t afford to lose their email. People are already scared of losing it, and that’s when Google can’t monitor everything we do.

Chris Johnson

Could you please define what constitutes “a real VOIP product/solution”?

Who’s to say that the Google premises equipment doesn’t have RJ11 connectors that could be used to provide computer-free VoIP, should they decide to offer such a service? If the equipment doesn’t have those connectors now, they could certainly be added. You’re complaining about an issue that is very easily resolved.

Davi Correa da Silva Alves

Would make a nice Tor node ^^

Greg Tari

Lol, that node alone would be faster than 90% of the hosts in tor land so it seems

Michael Garrett

I’m all for Google having more control over my web experience. My concern is that they’ll use our data for more targeted ads because you’ll essentially be “logged in” all the time so you can’t escape it. I don’t want to encounter a bad link and invoke Rule 34, then be reminded of it with ads about doggie dresses when I’m trying to search for something new.

Nima Rahnemon

“Several ISPs have also been accused of throttling the BitTorrent protocol because they claim it negatively impacts the network. Google’s fiber network won’t care what protocol you’re using. There is more than enough bandwidth capacity in those fiber lines to keep up with anything you throw at it.”

The reason ISPs don’t like it when you use BitTorrent is not because they don’t have the capacity, but rather because BitTorrent is a P2P application. The Internet is physically a very segmented system. One ISP has connections to one set of users while another ISP has connections to another set of users. Typically, all ISPs make sure they have connections to all the popular servers and hosts. When you use P2P applications, you’re traversing through the territory of multiple ISPs and your ISP has to pay to be able to traverse through the other ISPs territory. Unless Google plans to have connections to every single person in the world (thereby monopolizing the Internet), they will face the same problems that other ISPs do and will most likely have to throttle BitTorrent and other P2P apps.

vonskippy

Meh, you’re wetting yourself over nothing.

A gig service sounds great, until you read you can’t host anything on it. So much for the new and improved 2-way internet for everybody.

Google just want’s to mainline their ad’s to your eyeballs, period. There’s no alternative motive of improving the Internet, it’s all about GOOGLE making money (so business as usual).

Besides, it’s all hype anyways – who can feed that 1G downlink? I have a 50mpbs cable pipe and except for the rare Microsoft patch I never seen ANYTHING come close to keeping up with 50M. I imagine Google will be rewriting Chrome so that all the advertisements will come thru first at the 1G speed and the real content will dribble in at normal 100K speeds.

Greg Tari

You sure do complain a lot, I doubt we’ll see google do that, because of that fact everything loads instantly with 5mbps.. their 1000mbps is going to load all the same shit, faster or just as fast.. therefore, why won’t need to do anything similar to what comcast does.. and can’t host anything on it? Lets be realistic here, won’t happen.

Jeremy Rodi

Chrome is based on the open source project Chromium; all google does is change a few things and releases it as its own. There would definitely be a noticeable difference if google tried something like that, and for someone like me I’d just hop on Chromium anyway; It’s not that much different.

I don’t know what google’s planning, but it sure bets the hell out of every other ISP I know.

I would like this, but not being able to host a server is a huge downside. I mean, no Garry’s Mod, Terraria, Minecraft, Counter-Strike, ect.. hosted servers. Which essentially means, you’ll still be getting lag, lag, and more lag on all the old servers instead of no lag at all thanks to Google Fiber. So games will not be effected much at all, with the exception of games that have their own high-speed servers, most usually don’t accommodate more than they have too.

So people who want to get high speed internet for multiplayer and gaming purposes, it’s pretty much worthless. Unless of course you’re going for a LAN server, which is perfectly fine (Because it’s just you, and your guests.), but that is LAN, not true internet.

Greg Tari

They would have to block pretty much all upload if they wanted to block all serving.. so thinking you won’t be able to host websites/game servers etc is foolish

Jeff Jones

For all we know it might be really easy to get permission from Google to host a game server or other personal related servers.

Panther6834

Personally, I think this is not only an absolutely fantastic idea, but one that is (virtually) guaranteed to be a resounding success. My first question to Google, though, would be, “Why, instead of the two Kansas City cities, didn’t you decide to do your ‘test bed’ in my area?” After all, I live in Silicon Valley, and Google is a local company. Heck, I’ve even been to the Android “complex” a few times (you should see the (small…lol) multi-colored bikes they have parked outside, for employees to use in riding from building-to-building.

NetscapePizza

Oh here we go again, there has gotta be some cycle where nerds always think Google cant afford to lose out trust by being evil in a service and every time they end up being really evil and creepy.

enzofloc

I think the benefits will largely come from within the so-called fibre-community. Kansas City will be the new experimental playground for high-cargo, lightning-speed traffic. You can bet Google will be workshopping the city to test the fantastic possibilities the rest of us won’t experience for many years.

Mr Moo

Google are taking over the world, and its probably for the best :) Id have google as my ISP even if they were offering the same as everyone else. Personally, i think google is an excellent company, they offer loads of services for absolutely nothing.
Even if they are collecting info about people, who gives a crap? wot they gonna do really? If your that paranoid about people keeping tabs on you then you really need counselling.

Jeff Jones

I think it is probably not Google’s goal to take over the world of ISPs, as much as it is to demonstrate that you can build a fast home internet service. All you have to do is reinvest some of the money you make from your customers on the infrastructure instead of hording it for buyouts or personal profits.

It annoys me to no end to hear companies officially say that fiber to the home costs to much, but then see them turn around and buy another company for millions of dollars.

Google may see an ad view return on investment from the Google Fiber subscribers, but most likely they are aiming for a technology progression. Just because they want a better future as much as the next person. I would expect that sometime next year we will start seeing reports or white papers that explain some of what they had to do and how fast they expect to see a ROI from Google Fiber.
If they can trigger a wave of ISP upgrades across the US, that is what they are really going for. It might take Google 50 years to cover the entire US with GB internet, but it should only take 7-10 years for all the ISPs working together to do the same.

Trevor

This is bullshit. Google fiber needs to come to arizona!!!!!!!!! I’m being ripped off by my ISP so badly right now. 70 bucks a month for 1GBPS AND no caps??????? Amazing. Truly amazing.

If Google moves to Sacramento, CA I would leave comcast, pay the early contract fee, and join the Google boat.

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